The standard Italian rifle of the Great War was adopted
in 1891. It was fed with a 6-round clip. The clip was a Mannlicher design
and the breech block assembly was designed by an Italian gunsmith named
Carcano.

While it is looked down upon by some devotees of the "finer"
rifles, it was a rugged weapon that didn't foul up easily
and withstood hard treatment. Its smaller cartridges [Cal. 6.5x52 mm vs.
7.92 mm Mauser] meant a soldier could carry more rounds and its clip
held 6 rounds vs. 5 per clip for almost all rifles of the other belligerents.
Lessons learned in North and East Africa left the Italian military itching
for improved ammunition. Their 6.5x52mm cartridge was the first of its
kind and while that’s a proud accomplishment it had not shaken loose
some design flaws. In an attempt to gain better penetration, flatter trajectory,
and more fatal impacts on soft targets a new 7.35x51mm cartridge, with
a modern spitzer bullet, was adopted.

Carcano-M38-Cavalry Production of one new rifle in 7.35
began in 1938. The Moschettoa Modello 91/38 Cavalleria was essentially
the same rifle as the early M1891 pattern with only a few minor changes.
Other than the chambering and dropping the gain-twist rifling method,
the only significant alteration was that the adjustable rear sight had
been replaced with an incredibly simple fixed rear notch. This was a radical
departure in military small arms thinking. The Italians had made the ambitious
decision that most engagements were at a range best suited to a 200 meter
battle sight (ultimately true in much of WWII) and that an adjustable
sight was likely just a distraction. Ranged engagement should be handled
by more appropriate equipment than riflemen.

A nice example of a WW2 Carcano Cavalry Carbine
in 7.35 with a shooting grade bore